Bryceland worked as a newspaper
librarian for the
Cape Argus before her professional theatrical début in
Stage Door in 1947, becoming an actress with the Cape Performing Arts Board in 1964. who with her husband, Morris Phillips, a
ballroom dancer, founded the Maas-Phillips School of Dance, Speech and Drama, in Cape Town in the 1950s. Yvonne's first husband was an immigrant from England named Danny Bryceland, a real-estate salesman. The relationship became abusive and, although a devout
Roman Catholic, after urgent consultations with her priest, they were divorced in 1960. They had three children – daughters Colleen, Melanie, and Mavourneen, In 1969, Bryceland performed in the première of Athol Fugard's play
Boesman and Lena and repeated the role in the 1974 film version. Described as the first lady of South African theatre, Bryceland was a committed artist who, in 1972, defied
racial segregation by co-founding, with her second husband,
Brian Astbury, South Africa's first non-racial theatre, the
Space Theatre in Cape Town. She joined the
Royal National Theatre in 1978, making her acclaimed début in
The Woman by
Edward Bond. She remained with the National Theatre for eight years. She received the
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in 1985 for her performance in
The Road to Mecca. Fugard attempted to have
The Road to Mecca produced in New York in 1985 but
Actors Equity refused to grant Bryceland permission to perform on Broadway on the grounds that she was not an "international star" and therefore not entitled to preference over an American actress. She performed the role in a 1987 production at the
Spoleto Festival, which is not subject to Equity contracts, receiving a rave review from the
Chicago Tribune: For sheer emotional range, Bryceland's performance is phenomenal. Barefoot at times, wrapped in a worn cardigan whose sleeves seem to want to cover her hands, the actress journeys from failing old age to heights of insight. She suggests a person reborn into a faith of her own invention. It is a difficult part in a play that is far from easy, but Bryceland gives it a sustained glow. In 1988, Bryceland appeared in a New York production at the Promenade Theater,
off-Broadway, with Fugard as the clergyman and
Amy Irving as Miss Helen's friend Elsa, receiving an
Obie Award for her performance, as well as a
Theatre World Award. a role she also played in the film version. In 1987, Bryceland participated in an educational programme at
Cornell University developed by the Education Department of the National Theatre of Great Britain for actors in training. ==Theatre==